As tire testing apparatuses, there is a tire uniformity measuring apparatus that measures the uniformity of a tire, and a tire balance measuring apparatus that measures the balance of a tire. In measurement by the tire testing apparatuses, a rim assembly to which a tire that is a test object is attached is replaced for every type of tire according to bead diameter or bead width.
Generally, the rim assembly is used by combining a lower rim (first rim) and an upper rim (second rim) that are attachable to and detachable from each other. The lower rim and the upper rim are formed in a substantially columnar shape or a substantially disk shape, respectively.
In order for the types of tires as measurement objects to cope with a number of cases, methods for automatically replacing the rim assembly for the purpose of shortening the replacement time of the rim assembly or saving replacement work have been proposed. Inventions regarding rim replacing apparatuses are disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3.